FIRST LOOK: Benedict Cumberbatch is Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate

Well somebody's been at the bleach! The first snap of Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange dropped online today and my my, isn't someone looking different? A little Rylan Clark off the X Factor in the audition stages anyone?

Cumberbatch takes the lead role in the upcoming WikiLeaks movie The Fifth Estate, which takes us through the early days and rise of the infamous whistle-blowing website. Daniel Bruhl plays Assange's business associate Daniel Domscheit-Berg. The film is based upon Domscheit-Berg's book, Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assangeat the World's Most Dangerous Website, as well as WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy by journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding.

Bill Condon, who Twihards will know as the director of Breaking Dawn, is behind the camera. Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens and screen veteran Laura Linney head up the supporting cast which also includes Anthony Mackie, David Thewlis, Peter Capaldi, Alicia Vikander and Carice van Houten.

The Fifth Estate hits cinemas stateside in November 2013 with an Irish release date yet to be confirmed.